Chapter 317
This time, though, it was Haynes who spoke up.
“Of course.”
He fixed his gaze on Stella, his dark eyes reflecting her image-deep, probing, as if he could see straight through her.
“She’s telling the truth. Everything she bid on, she paid for out of her own pocket. After all…”
Although Haynes was addressing the others, his eyes never left Stella.
“She has a fortune of a hundred million at her disposal. She can spend it however she likes.”
Stella’s long lashes fluttered, but her face wore only the faintest smile-calm, unruffled.
She didn’t deny it. Instead, she asked, “So, Mr. O’Brien, are you going to keep raising the bid?”
Haynes’s lips quirked in a cool, almost indifferent smile, but his eyes were like ice.
“With Ms. Cameron throwing money around with such determination, I’d be a fool to compete.”
Stella’s smile widened. “I’ve set aside eighty million for this. Aren’t you tempted to keep bidding, Mr. O’Brien? Make me spend a little more?”
Haynes’s voice was clear and cold, like a mountain spring.
“Just so you can stop suddenly and leave me holding the bag? If you want it for eighty million, why not just bid that now? No one would stand in your way.”
Stella replied, “But I like a good deal as much as anyone. If I can walk away with it for forty million, who in their right mind would offer eighty? My money doesn’t grow on trees, you know. If I can save forty million, that’s more than enough to keep me comfortable for the rest of my life.”
It finally dawned on Rachel Stella really was filthy rich.
Not long ago, Stella had even threatened Haynie with her own life and blackmailed her for a hundred million! Of the things Stella had just won, she’d spent a little over ten million—leaving her with nearly ninety million still at her disposal.
She could easily outlast everyone here.
And who knew? Maybe Stella would pull the same stunt she’d used on Jasper- raise the price just high enough, only to drop out suddenly and leave someone else with the bill.
Stella was willing to gamble. The rest of them weren’t.
The thought made Rachel’s hands itch with the desire to strangle her.
First, Stella had snatched back her mother’s necklace. Now, she was about to take Rachel’s beloved Neptune’s Tear as well.
Sensing Rachel’s poisonous glare, Stella turned to her.
“What’s wrong, Ms. Pearce? Care to bid higher yourself?”
Rachel forced a strained smile. “…No, if you want it so badly, Ms. Cameron, it’s yours.”
But Stella corrected her, “You’re mistaken, Ms. Pearce. You’re not letting me have it. I won it fair and square. Unless, of course, you’d rather keep bidding? We could compete on even ground.”
Rachel clenched her fists so tightly her nails dug into her palms, but she didn’t even feel the pain.
This bitch is doing this on purpose. She just wants to humiliate me.
She tasted blood in her mouth from biting down so hard.
Haynes seemed to have had enough. He spoke in a low, steady voice. “Stella, I’d advise you to show a little more restraint. Otherwise, you might find it all comes back to bite you.”
Stella didn’t back down in the slightest, her arrogance on full display.
“Fine by me. I’ll be waiting for the day it does.”
Haynes’s eyes flashed with cold light. He wasn’t one to argue he simply gave Stella a long, searching look, then fell silent.
Before long, one of the staff appeared, carrying Neptune’s Tear on a velvet
cushion, as if it were the most fragile thing in the world.
If it dropped, Stella could have refused to take it—they all knew that.
Forty million. Even just holding it made your hands tremble.
Now, all eyes in the room were fixed on Stella, waiting to see if she’d follow
through on her bold promise—or try to worm her way out of the deal at the last second.